''Atlides'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

gossamer-winged butterflies Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly ...

(

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

Eumaeini The Eumaeini are a tribe of gossamer-winged butterflies (family Lycaenidae). They are typically placed in the subfamily Theclinae, but sometimes considered a separate subfamily Eumaeinae. Over 1,000 species are found in the Neotropical realm ...

of the subfamily

Theclinae The subfamily Theclinae is a group of butterflies, often referred to as hairstreaks, with some species instead known as elfins or by other names. The group is part of the family Lycaenidae, the "gossamer-winged butterflies". There are many trop ...

. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere between the southern United States and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Species

17 named and 5 (or more) undescribed

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are known or assumed to belong to this genus: * '' Atlides atys'' (Cramer,

779 __NOTOC__ Year 779 ( DCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 779 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...

* ''

Atlides bacis ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Godman & Salvin,

887 __NOTOC__ Year 887 ( DCCCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * November 17 – East Frankish magnates revolt against the inept emperor ...

* '' Atlides browni'' Constantino, Salazar & Johnson, 1993 * '' Atlides carpasia'' (Hewitson, 1868) * ''

Atlides cosa ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Hewitson, 1867) * ''

Atlides dahnersi ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' Bálint, Constantino & Johnson, 2003 * '' Atlides gaumeri'' (Godman,

901 __NOTOC__ Year 901 (CMI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February – King Louis III (the Blind) is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by P ...

* ''

Atlides halesus The great purple hairstreak (''Atlides halesus''), also called the great blue hairstreak, is a common gossamer-winged butterfly species in parts of the United States. It is actually a Neotropical species; its North American range only includes ...

'' – great purple hairstreak, great blue hairstreak * ''

Atlides halljasoni ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' Bálint & Wojtusiak, 2006 * ''

Atlides havila ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Hewitson, 1865) * ''

Atlides inachus ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies (family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere between ...

'' (Cramer,

775 __NOTOC__ Year 775 ( DCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 775 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

* ''

Atlides misma ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' D'Abrera, 1995 * ''

Atlides polama ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Schaus, 1902) * ''

Atlides polybe ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1763) * ''

Atlides rustan ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Stoll,

790 __NOTOC__ Year 790 ( DCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 790 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

* ''

Atlides thargelia ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Burmeister, 1878) * ''

Atlides zava ''Atlides'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies ( family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies are widespread in the Americas, occurring almost anywhere bet ...

'' (Hewitson, 1878) * ''Atlides'' sp. 'Bahia' * ''Atlides'' sp. 'Colombia' * ''Atlides'' sp. 'Costa Rica' * ''Atlides'' sp. 'Ecuador' * ''Atlides'' sp. 'Peru' '' A. thargelia'' was recently proposed for separation as

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''"Riojana"'', but it was subsequently argued to be a ''

nomen nudum In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate des ...

'' per Article 13.1 of the

ICZN Code The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the Int ...

, because an appropriate genus description was not given. The matter has been submitted to the ICZN for discussion. Regardless the questions of nomenclature, ''A. thargelia'' is for the time being retained here; given that several undescribed relatives are known to exist, splitting off monotypic lineages now runs risk of leaving the remaining group

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

Footnotes

References

* (2011): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms &ndash
''Atlides''
Version of December 22, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2012.

External links

*
''Atlides'' images at EOL
Eumaeini Lycaenidae of South America Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Jacob Hübner {{Eumaeini-stub